Johnny G
- Updated: July 26, 2002
By Johnny Gallagher
Ricky Carmichael
I know this has nothing to do with ATV’s, but who cares, 14 straight outdoor moto wins. This kid has something special that very few atheletes in any sport have ever had Internal Motivation. If I could bottle it and sell it I wouldn’t have to write this column for gas money.
Irresponsible typing
People lets use our heads here, the mud slinging and he said she said gossip has gotten way out of line in forums and chat rooms, our sport is really headed in a great direction lets all enjoy it. Don’t post anything that you wouldn’t want to see written about you or someone in your family. (Fatherly Voice)
New rides
Z400 is here, and consumers seem happy with it. The Kawi is due out soon and the results will obviosly be the same. Polaris enters the race scene with their new Predator, which from the very little bit that I have seen has a lot of promise. Cannondale continues to impress me with their never rest attitude, and race ready machines. What the hell honda? As good as the 400ex is, it’s time to come out with something better. Yamaha, the raptor is a great play bike, and Curtis Crump rides the hell out of his at the GNCC’s, but come on give us something we don’t need a ladder to get on.
GNC TTs
Turnouts suck! Where is everyone? I looked at the results, and not one class had 20 enteries. In all honesty theres no feeling in motorsports like the adreniline rush you get coming out of the bowl at Ashtrabula on a hooked up TT bike. If I had the time to build another bike I’d race the TT’s for sure, (well if I could only build one more bike it would be an MX bike, But if I could do two more I’d be TT racin). I guess that answers where most of the TT riders are huh? A local motocross.
Yamaha Pays $24 million to Paralyzed biker in judgment
New Lenox man had sued Yamaha
By Mickey Ciokajlo
Tribune staff reporter — Chicago Tribune
July 16, 2002
A New Lenox man who was paralyzed from the waist down after losing control of his motorcycle while jumping dirt mounds six years ago was awarded $24 million Monday by a Cook County Circuit Court jury.
Anthony O’Brien, 28, alleged during the trial that the carburetor on his 1996 YZ125 Yamaha stuck open as he approached his jump, causing the motorcycle to accelerate, said his attorney, Martin Healy.
O’Brien, who already had made about 10 jumps that day on his friend’s farm outside Manhattan in Will County, landed on his buttocks, fracturing his spine, Healy said.
“We believe that he certainly was capable of doing what he was doing that day,” Healy said. “Yamaha says he gave too much throttle as he was going up the ramp.”
The jury delivered its verdict against Yamaha Motor Corp. U.S.A. and its parent company, Yamaha Motor Co. of Japan. The jury deliberated about five hours Monday after the monthlong trial, Healy said. An attorney for Yamaha declined to comment on the verdict Monday and would not say whether the company would appeal.
O’Brien had owned a smaller motorcycle and rode regularly as a boy and into his early teens. He later rode all-terrain vehicles and other friends’ motorcycles until he bought the Yamaha two weeks before the accident.
Attorneys for Yamaha attacked his riding experience, but Healy said O’Brien had maintained his skill level.
A week before the accident, O’Brien noticed that the motorcycle would hesitate for a few seconds in returning to idle after he released the throttle, Healy said. The hesitation did not occur consistently, and O’Brien and his friends who examined the motorcycle could not determine the cause of the problem.
During the trial, Healy said he presented evidence that showed the chrome plating on the carburetor slide had started to peel, causing the slide to stick open and inject fuel into the engine after the throttle was released.
Yamaha attorneys argued that peeling chrome would not impair the function of the motorcycle, Healy said. However, Healy said he introduced evidence that showed such peeling was a violation of Japanese industrial standards.
On the day of the accident, O’Brien and three friends were jumping a pair of dirt mounds 3 to 4 feet high and about 12 feet apart. When O’Brien crashed, he launched off one mound and landed a few feet past the second one, Healy said.
I would have signed with them for next year for 1/24 of that!
In all honesty though, I feel terrible for the injured individual, but this looks like a McDonalds coffee incedent all over again.
ATV Scene’s “On the Fast-Trak” column
Remember this column? Man was it cool. I miss it – Are you reading this JP?
Until next time,
Johnny G -out
